The' 'Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo

Definition

Theater

A popular music hall ballad, written and composed by Fred Gilbertin 1892 and made famous by the inimitable Charles Coborn.

There are two candidates for the historical figure behind thesong. The first, Joseph Hobson Jagger, won over two million francsduring eight days in 1873. An engineer with an expert knowledge of spindles, Jagger suspected that one of the roulette wheels was faulty and had it watched for a week. Thereafter he backed the nine numbers that were turning up more frequently than their mathematical probability; his winning streak continued until the casino altered the wheel. The second candidate is Charles Wells, a convicted fraudster who won a millionfrancs over three days in 1891. Although he claimed to have a secret system,it seems that his winnings - all of which he subsequently lost - were due to simple luck.